Congestion pricing opponents called on the MTA to shut down its toll cameras Thursday — as commuters expressed confusion about whether they’ll continue being charged the $9 tax.
Drivers in the Manhattan congestion tolling zone south of 60th Street were left puzzled by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Gov. Kathy Hochul’s vow to fight the Trump administration over its Wednesday announcement that it was yanking approval for the much-hated program.
“The governor should have done the right thing and shut the readers off,” said Charlton D’Souza, president of Passengers United, a subway rider group that opposed congestion pricing.
“I think congestion pricing should end. They should turn (the cameras) off right away,” he said.
In a letter to Hochul Wednesday, US Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he was revoking approval for the first-in-the-nation program implemented just six weeks prior, calling it “a slap in the face” to working-class Americans.
The MTA almost immediately filed a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court to stop the administration from pulling the plug, with its Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber vowing “we’re not turning off the tolls.”
“Until ruled otherwise, the congestion pricing cameras are staying on. We are keeping the cameras on. Lights, cameras, action. They’re staying on!” Hochul added in a defiant press conference with Lieber Wednesday afternoon.
Duffy didn’t say when the $9 fee would cease being collected, only noting in his letter that the feds would work with New York state on an “orderly termination” of the tolls.
But any hope of a seamless transition out of the scheme has likely been derailed by the MTA’s lawsuit and Lieber and Hochul’s defiant rhetoric — and New York drivers fumed to The Post about how the state’s refusal to heed the Trump administration’s orders was sowing confusion.
“They should shut it down until we see what happens in court, added Tony Nefredro, a 50-year-old car dealer from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.
“He’s the president, the top guy in the nation. We should listen to him so everything should be shut down right now. That’s how I feel!” he added.
“It’s confusing!” said Joan Guerrero, 34, a FedEx delivery driver from The Bronx. “The news says it’s dead but no one is saying that they’re not going to charge me today.”
Guerrero, who drives into the tolling zone, said he hopes the MTA stops collecting the fee because it’s having a major impact on workers like him — with congestion pricing adding more than $3,000 to his bottom line each year.
“To someone like me, that’s a lot. That means real things for my family. I don’t know if they understand that.”
Others who drive for a living, like cabbie Adriana Oprea, 46, of Queens, said the congestion toll ticks off her customers on a regular basis.
“I picked up this lady last week at LaGuardia Airport and she started immediately yelling at me, ‘why is there $11 on my meter?! What is that?!’ and of course no tip. It pisses so many people off and hurts our business,” she said.
“It’s a tremendous hit because we don’t make tips anymore, not even airport runs!”
Oprea said the toll has pushed some riders to take extreme measures, including a plumber lugging his tools and even a toilet in her cab.
“He said he can’t put his toilet or his tool bags on the bus, so it’s cheaper for him to call me over and have me drive him than to bring his truck in,” she said, adding that the plumber said he gets slapped with a whopping $26 in tolls every time he takes his truck in the congestion zone.
“You got plumbers taking cabs because it’s cheaper than driving the truck that they already bought. Who is this helping? Nothing good is coming from congestion pricing,” she said.
As for what she’d tell the governor if given a chance, Oprea said: “I would ask her if the president passed a mandatory shutdown why are we still getting charged today? Why are the cameras not shut down? It’s a very simple question.”
Vincent Dimino, 76, who runs his family-owned fish shop that has been in business 60 years, said he comes in from Staten Island daily and winds up paying the toll six times a day, which is gobbling up his profit margins.
“It’s highway robbery,” he said of congestion pricing, calling the MTA “a money pit.”
“I hope [President Trump] does it and they impeach Hochul,” he seethed, adding he believes the toll cameras should be turned off “until everything is sorted out.”
Out-of-state commuters, like Sammy Adzemovic, 54, who drives to the city for work from the Poconos, said the MTA fighting to keep the toll in place is a classic example of “big fish always eat small fish.”
“Do you think you and I are going to win against those big guys? Hell no. So there’s no choice.”
Asked if the MTA should turn off the cameras, Adzemovic said: “Of course. If the president said stop, hell yes they should turn it off.”
D’Souza, the Passengers United president, blasted the rollout of the toll as “horrible” and slammed Lieber, accusing him of “catering and pandering” to the governor.
“At this point the governor, she needs to get rid of the chairman,” he fumed. “We need a new chairman at the MTA.”
D’Souza also hit out at funding from the toll going towards the MTA’s coffers, which was one of the primary justifications DOT secretary Duffy gave for rescinding the toll.
“You ask everyday New Yorkers, many of whom don’t ride the subway, to pay for the MTA’s waste? It’s disgusting.”
